X-ray Videos Show Animal Skeletons in Motion

Scientists are filming animals as they run on treadmills (or fly in wind tunnels) and then using a new 3-D video technique to peek beneath the skin with X-Rays to see the skeletons on the move. The final process of making the movies is still in the design phase, but some scaled down and simplified versions are already available (see a movie of a pig walking).

The scientists are using this approach to understand how the biomechanics of flight evolved. To trace flight back in time, they made skeletal movies of alligators—the closest living relatives of birds—as they walked along a moving treadmill.

Another recent study discovered a flight-helping ligament that transformed as winged birds evolved. Now, the scientists are preparing to study birds as they toddle up steep inclines while flapping their wings. By comparing the skeletal movies from the walking birds with those in flight, the scientists expect learn other key features needed for flight.



The technique will also breathe life into fossil bones from extinct animals like theropod dinosaurs. Three-dimensional images of the brittle bones can be fitted with moving skeletons from modern-day relatives.

Other future uses of the technology could include:

* Measuring the forces applied to each joint as a person runs or a frog jumps.
* Testing new theories of biomechanics, such as muscle-tendon interactions.
* Studying the evolution of joints, from the cartilaginous joints in most mammals to the “more advanced” joints in humans, which are bonier.
* Planning orthopedic surgeries and comparing the effectiveness of different approaches.
* Creating better treatments for shoulder, wrist, knee and back injuries.

In a related article, see this video of a shrimp on a treadmill.

Chimpanzees Observed Using Weapons

Chimpanzees in Senegal have been observed making and using wooden spears to hunt other primates, according to a study in the journal Current Biology. Researchers documented 22 cases of chimps fashioning tools to jab at smaller primates sheltering in cavities of hollow branches or tree trunks. Chimps had not been previously observed hunting other animals with tools.

Chimpanzees were observed jabbing the spears into hollow trunks or branches, over and over again. After the chimp removed the tool, it would frequently smell or lick it. In the vast majority of cases, the chimps used the tools in the manner of a spear, not as probes. The researchers say they were using enough force to injure an animal that may have been hiding inside. Adolescent females exhibited the behavior most frequently.

In most cases, the chimpanzees carried out four or more steps to manufacture spears for hunting. In all but one of the cases, chimps broke off a living branch to make their tool. They would then trim the side branches and leaves. In a number of cases, chimps also trimmed the ends of the branch and stripped it of bark. Some chimps also sharpened the tip of the tool with their teeth.

Many areas where chimpanzees live are also home to red colobus monkey, which the chimps hunt. However, the Senegal site is lacking in this species, so chimps may have needed to adopt a new hunting strategy to catch a different prey - bushbaby.

Record-breaking Squid Caught in New Zealand

Fishermen in New Zealand have caught what is expected to be a world-record-breaking colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni). See articles here and here.

The squid weighs an estimated 990 pounds and took two hours to land in Antarctic waters. The squid was about 33 feet long, and was the first adult colossal squid caught intact. If it were used to make calamari rings, they would be the size of tractor tires!

Colossal squid, which are found deep in Antarctic waters, are thought to be about the same length as giant squid (Architeutis dux) but are much heavier. The species was first identified in 1925, but very few specimens have been found.

See a related post on squids here.

Goliathus cacicus

This photo gallery has some neat pictures of the Goliathus cacicus beetle. These beetles are among the largest insects on earth. The heavily armored adults are so large that when flying they produce a sound similar to a toy helicopter in flight. Below are a couple examples from the gallery:

"Amphibian Ark" Planned to Save Frogs

A mysterious killer fungus has been wiping out frog populations around the globe. A group of scientists called "Amphibian Ark" are currently organizing a worldwide effort to stem the deaths by asking zoos, aquariums and botanical gardens to take in threatened frogs until the fungus can be stopped. The goal is to prevent the world's more than 6,000 species of frogs, salamanders and wormlike caecilians from disappearing. Scientists estimate up to 170 species of frogs have become extinct in the past decade from the fungus and other causes, and an additional 1,900 species are threatened. Amphibian Ark wants zoos, botanical gardens and aquariums in each country to take in at least 500 frogs from a threatened species to protect them from the killer fungus, which is called chytrid fungus. Each frog would get cleaned to make sure it doesn't introduce the scourge into the protected area.

Amphibians - of which frogs make up the majority - are a vital part of the food chain, eating insects that other animals don't touch and connecting the world of aquatic animals to land dwellers. Without amphibians, the insects that would go unchecked would threaten public health and food supplies. Amphibians also serve important biomedical purposes. Some species produce a chemical used as a pain reliever for humans; one species is linked to a chemical that disables the virus that causes AIDS.

Scientists aren't quite sure of the fungus's origin, but they suspect it might be Africa. The African clawed frog, which carries the fungus on its skin and is immune to its deadly effects, has been shipped all over the world for research. The clawed frog was also used in hospitals in the 1940s as a way to detect pregnancy in women. It produces eggs when injected with the urine of a pregnant woman.

The fungus works like a parasite that makes it difficult for the frogs to use their pores, quickly causing them to die of dehydration. It has been linked to the extinction of amphibians from Australia to Costa Rica.

At Yosemite National Park in California, the mountain yellow-legged frog is close to extinction. The park has only 650 frog populations left, but 85 percent are infected with the fungus and the growing quiet along the park's lakes is evident as many of the frogs are dying off.

Deep-sea squid emit flashes of light

Research has shown that large deep-sea squid emit blinding flashes of light as they attack their prey. Taningia danae's spectacular light show was revealed in video footage taken in deep waters off Chichijima Island in the North Pacific. Japanese scientists believe the creatures use the bright flashes to disorientate potential victims and say the squid are far from the sluggish, inactive beasts once thought. In fact, the footage reveals them to be aggressive predators. The squid, which can measure over 7ft in length, deftly swim backwards and forwards by flapping their large, muscular fins. They are able to alter their direction rapidly by bending their flexible bodies.

The blinding flashes of light were a surprise to scientists, as before now no one had ever seen such bioluminescence behavior while hunting for squid. The footage (see the article for links to video) reveals the creatures emitting short flashes from light-producing organs, called photophores, on their arms. Scientists note the light could serve several purposes, including disorienting prey, acting as a means to measure target distance, or even courtship.

The film captured the squid in action (picture below): 1. The squid swims towards the bait; 2. It spreads its arms wide; 3. It swims around the bait, twisting its body; 4. It grabs the bait with its eight arms.



Deep-sea squid are very difficult to study, and little is known about their ecology and biology. Several species prowl the ocean depths. Taningia danae is thought to be abundant in the tropical and subtropical oceans of the world. Larger species of giant squid belong to the Architeuthidae family: females are thought to measure up to 43ft in length. But the colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamiltoni) is thought to be the largest of all - possibly reaching up to 46ft long.

Frog trapped in amber 25 million years ago

A miner in Chiapas, Mexico discovered a tiny tree frog that has been preserved in amber for 25 million years. If authenticated, the preserved frog would be the first of its kind found in Mexico. Only a few other preserved frogs have been found in chunks of amber -- a stone formed by ancient tree sap -- mostly in the Dominican Republic. Like those, the frog found in Chiapas appears to be of the genus Craugastor, whose descendants still inhabit the region.

Lakes detected under Antarctica

Lasers beamed from space have detected big lakes of water underneath the ice in Antarctica. These lakes, some stretching across hundreds of square miles, fill and drain so dramatically that the movement can be seen by a satellite looking at the icy surface of the southern continent. The lakes lie beneath 2,300 feet of compressed snow and ice. About 90% of the world's fresh water is locked in the thick ice cap that covers Antarctica.

(Also see this previous blog post on Antarctica's ice caves).

Huge Library of Animal Sounds and Videos

The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has placed sounds and videos from the Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds online in a very neat website at animalbehaviorarchive.org. The online library contains more than 80 years of recordings, including 67% of the world's birds. In all, there are more than 160,000 recordings, including videos of more than 3,000 species. They even built a program called RavenViewer that will draw live spectrograms & waveforms while you choose from a variety of settings.